Ring topped road delineator with sheltered tie-on terminal

ABSTRACT

A road delineator includes an upright sidewall having circular cross-section, and an outwardly extending support flange at a lower end for standing the apparatus in an upright attitude. An upper end of the sidewall engages an elongated donut-shaped rim defining a vertical aperture. A mushroom shaped, and upwardly directed, tie-on terminal is mounted within the vertical aperture. A circular weighting member engages with the support flange for holding the delimiter in the upright attitude. A warning tape may be strung between plural of these road delimiters to form a hazard boundary.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to road or highway delineators, andmore particularly to delineators that are easily grasped and whichprovide means for engaging a tape.

2. Description of Related Art

The following art defines the present state of this field:

Brown et al., U.S. D406,543 describes a traffic channelizer design.

Bent et al., U.S. D412,131 describes a traffic channelizing systemdesign.

Alt, U.S. D419,901 describes a safety marking pylon design.

Abrams, U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,428 describes a traffic guide post meanscomprising a post member and a base member of mutually interfittingrelationship.

Lyons et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,118 describes a signal devicecombining a fluorescent or phosphorescent light tube and a weighted basedesigned to be thrown or dropped from a vehicle as a warning marker. Thelight tube is preferably of the chemically actuated type and the basepreferably has four resilient legs serving to ensure that the devicewill assume an upright position when dropped.

Beard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,334 describes a traffic marker including anupright cone-shaped member and a base. Two orifices are provided on theupper end of the cone-shaped member and on opposite sides thereof. Abracket is provided having an interior portion and an exterior portion.The bracket is operable to be inserted through the orifice such that thedistal end of the interior portion contacts the interior surface of thecone-shaped member at a point. An orifice is disposed in the interiormember through which a flag can be inserted. The flag is insertedthrough the orifice on the opposite side of the cone-shaped memberthrough the orifice to contact the opposite sides of the interiorsurface of the cone at a point.

Thurston, U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,791 describes a stackable road delineatorincluding an upright conical portion with a detachable weighted base.The top conical end has a handle graspable by the fingers of a humanhand. Also, this end has a conical hollow interior so that when it isstacked on top of another similar delineator, the handle will freely fitwithin this hollow interior to thus provide stackable delineators.

Kulp et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,673 describes a safety delineator whichincludes a conical body portion to which is attached one or morevertical panels. A new and improved handle feature permits easy andcomfortable full hand gripping of the delineator and also preventssticking and jamming together of a plurality of the delineators whenthey are stacked. The delineators may be stacked without removing thevertical panels, since each vertical panel is particularly designed towrap around the conical body portion to which it is attached as anothervertical delineator slides over it.

Ahn, U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,262 describes a basally adhered,self-recovering traffic lane delineator having a cylindrical post madeof flexible material, having the air outlet and inlet on the center ofits upper surface, and a supplementary support panel placed and adheredunderneath the post. The support panel supports a lower part of the postand is adhered on the ground. Owing to its small package volume, thedelineator is easy to move and safeguard.

Bent et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,941 describes a traffic delineatorincluding a cylinder and a base. The base has a hole therethrough topermit the cylinder to be inserted into the base and the base then holdsthe cylinder down. A grip is formed in the center section of thecylinder to increase ease of carrying the delineator. The cylinder mayalso include a handle and means for affixing traffic warning lights andflags. The base may include! means for holding removable ballast. Thecylinder is formed by blow molding.

Eberle et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,320 describes a free standing displaypanel with a foldable floor sign including an integrally formed handleportion and male and female hinge projections. The male and female hingeprojections snap together into interlocking engagement with each otherin response to simultaneous axial compression. The male coupling memberincludes a resilient finger portion and a latching head, and the femalecoupling member includes a; cylindrical collar having a latch pocket anda radially stepped, inwardly projecting retainer. The resilient fingerportion is radially deflectable in response to sliding engagement of thelatching head against the retainer to permit the latching head to clearthe retainer and enter the latch pocket. The display panels arestabilized in a spread-apart service position by a locking arm that ispivotally coupled to the display panels for folding movement withinlongitudinal slots formed along side edges of the display panels. Two ormore floor signs are linked together by chains to provide a wide areabarrier to entry.

The prior art teaches plastic road delineators with handles, but theseare designed as assemblies of several parts, costly to assemble.However, the prior art does not teach a delineator as a unitary moldedpart with a hand graspable rim and a tape-engaging terminal mountedwithin the rim for protection thereof. The present invention fulfillsthese needs and provides further related advantages as described in thefollowing summary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and use,which give rise to the objectives described below.

The present invention teaches a road delineator, which includes anupright sidewall having circular cross-section as either a cylindricalor a cone, and at a lower end thereof, an outwardly extending supportflange for standing the apparatus in an upright attitude. The upper endof the sidewall engages an elongated donut-shaped rim defining avertical aperture. A mushroom shaped, and upwardly directed, tie-onterminal is mounted within the vertical aperture. A circular weightingmember engages with the support flange. A crowd control tape may, beengaged from unit to unit of plural delineators for establishing aboundry at a crime scene or at a hazard.

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a road orhighway delineator with features and benefits not taught by the priorart.

Another objective is to provide a tubular delineator that is easilymanufactured by plastic molding techniques.

A still further objective is to provide a delineator with a handgraspable upper rim and a mushroom shaped tape tie-on.

A further objective is to provide such a delineator formed as a cone forimproved stability when placed on a surface in an upright attitude.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following more detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way ofexample, the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention. In suchdrawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of thepresent invention having a cylindrical body;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of theinvention having a cone shaped body; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view thereof showing how plural units of theinvention may be connected by crown-control tape engaged with the units.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Road delineators, such as this invention, are used for traffic control.They are commonly formed of a cylindrical plastic upright portion thatmay be colored highway orange, for example, and have a weighteddetachable base for stability. Typical road delineators areapproximately 42″ high and 4″ in diameter, and are equipped withreflective bands for day or night traffic control. Thus, they aredistinguished from substantially smaller common traffic road cones thatare primarily used for temporary traffic control. Because of theweighted base, a road delineator will typically remain in place if hitby a passing car, whereas a road cone will be overturned.

The above-described drawing figures illustrate the invention, a soft andpliable molded plastic delineator apparatus 10 having an upright stand20 with, at a lower end thereof, an outwardly extending support flange30 for stabilizing the delineator 10 in an upright and stable attitude.In one embodiment, the stand may not have the flange 30, but instead bewedged into a base 70 as is shown in FIG. 1. The upper end of the stand20 is integral with a frame 40 which extends upwardly therefrom andpreferably is in the shape of an elongated donut-shaped rim as shown inFIGS. 1-3, and defines an aperture 42 which is ideal for being graspedby a hand for ease of placement from, and pickup onto, a truck by amounted worker. An upwardly directed, tie-on terminal 50 is mountedwithin the vertical aperture 42 as shown in the figures so that it iseasily addressed yet is secure from being damaged as it is surrounded bythe frame 40.

In one embodiment, the upright stand 20 is generally cylindrical asshown in FIG. 1. The sidewall preferably provides plural, annular,spaced-apart stiffening ribs 22 which protrude from an outer surface 24.

In another embodiment, the upright stand 20 is generally cone shaped asshown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the stand 20 comprises threecontiguous sections including a base section 25, a center section 26joined to the base section 25 at an inwardly directed annular step 27,and an upper section 28 joined to the center section 26 at an outwardlydirected annular step 29. The fact that the bottom of upper section 28is of a greater diameter than the upper end of the center section 26,assures that the delimiters 10 do not tend to stick together whenstacked or nested.

In FIG. 3 it is seen that the delimiters 10 may be joined by a flexibleelongate member 60 such as a crowd-control tape, by a simple loopengagement about the tie-on terminal 50 of each of the units thusforming a combination for establishing a boundary about a crime scene ora hazard. A weighting ring 70 may be placed over the delimiters toassure upright standing stability, as is shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The tie-on terminal 50 may be in the form of a mushroom, as shown inFIGS. 1-3, or may be molded as a shaft 52 extending upwardly into theaperture 42 with small pimples 54 arranged so that a tape tied to theshaft is not likely to be dislodged from the shaft by sliding upwardly.The shaft preferably provides a bolt hole 56 therein.

While the invention has been described with reference to at least onepreferred embodiment, it is to be clearly understood by those skilled inthe art that the invention is not limited thereto. Rather, the scope ofthe invention is to be interpreted only in conjunction with the appendedclaims.

1. An apparatus comprising: an upright stand terminating at an upper endthereof, with an integral frame defining an aperture; the frame and theupper end of the upright stand joined at a crotch; and, a tie-onterminal extending from the crotch, upwardly into the aperture.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the upright stand is generally cylindrical.3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the upright stand is generally coneshaped.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the upright stand isgenerally rectangular and upwardly tapered.
 5. The apparatus of claim 3wherein the upright stand comprises plural contiguous, coaxial, sectionsincluding a base section, a center section joined to the base section atan inwardly directed annular step, and an upper section joined to thecenter section at an outwardly directed annular step.
 6. The apparatusof claim 3 wherein the upright stand comprises two contiguous, coaxial,sections including a central section, and joined to the central sectionat an outwardly directed annular step, an upper section.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the tie-on terminal is in the form of amushroom.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tie-on terminal is inthe form of a shaft with outwardly extending pimples adjacent an end ofthe shaft.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein a terminal end of theshaft provides a bolt hole therein.
 10. An apparatus comprising incombination: a plurality of spaced apart delimiters, each of thedelimiters providing at an upper end thereof, an integral frame definingan aperture; the frame and the upper end joined at a crotch; and, atie-on terminal extending from the crotch, upwardly into the aperture;and a flexible elongate member wrapped about the tie-on terminal of eachof the delimiters in turn to define a boundary.
 11. The apparatus ofclaim 7 wherein the flexible elongate member is a crime scene controltape.